Our View: ‘Ponseti-itis’ continues to sweep the world

John Buchanan, an Iowa City philanthropist who sits on Ponseti International’s board of directors, recently said he, like many others, has developed a case of “Ponseti-itis.”

We hope to see this drive to continue the late University of Iowa doctor’s work continue to gain to steam and spread across the world.

Ignacio Ponseti, who died in 2009 at the age of 95, developed the Ponseti Method, a simple but highly effective technique of treating clubfoot by using gentle manipulations of the feet along with a series of casts and braces. The method was born out of Ponseti’s research into the long-term outcomes of clubfoot surgeries performed at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he found that many surgical patients experienced pain after adolescence in addition to stiffness later in life.

For decades, Ponseti struggled to earn credibility for his nonsurgical approach. He said many surgeons were skeptical about a method that didn’t involve cutting and wouldn’t suggest it to their patients as an alternative. However, the rise of the Internet changed that as parents of children with clubfoot began connecting on message boards and spreading the word about Ponseti’s Iowa City clinic.

The Ponseti method is now considered to be the gold standard in treating clubfoot.

The method, sadly, is still out of reach for too many of the the estimated 150,000 to 200,000 children born with clubfoot each year due to a lack of health care workers trained in the method and because of the cost and quality of the brace needed.

Lucklily, UI-based Ponseti International Association is working to change that by ramping up its efforts to train more health care specialists (from 500 currently to a goal of 5,000 by 2021) and developing a low-cost, high-quality brace that soon will be shipped around the world.

Current models of the brace can cost $500 to $600, the equivalent of one or two years’ pay in some developing countries. But the Iowa Brace could cost families one-tenth of that or less.

The Iowa Brace, developed by a team of UI experts and funded through a $74,000 UI Research Foundation grant and private donations, will be distributed through a new nonprofit company established by Ponseti International, called Clubfoot Solutions. The goal is for the nonprofit business to be self-sustaining. Proceeds from sales would go toward manufacturing more braces and subsidizing the price point in the poorest countries. The first batch of 30,000 braces is in production and will be distributed in coming months around the world.

“These kids don’t know they were born in a developing country, so why should they get second-class treatments?” said Thomas Cook, director of global operations for Ponseti International.

We continue to be proud that one of our own developed a treatment that has helped children around the world to be able to walk, skip and jump unassisted. And we are proud of the men and women who have developed “Ponseti-itis” and continue to spread the good doctor’s work to every child in need, no matter their family’s means or location.

Coming Friday

Henry Compart, who was born last month with clubfoot, recently made his first visit to the Ponseti Clubfoot Treatment Center inside University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

The Press-Citizen plans to follow Henry, the son of Tom and Lisa Compart of Fort Dodge, through the treatment process at UIHC with a series of stories beginning Friday.